This isn’t our normal discussions here, but research by John Lott and Larry Kenny found that women’s political views change a lot over time. When women get married about half the gap between men and women changes over time, when they have kids about half the remaining gap disappears, but if women get a divorce and have kids, they become much more liberal than they were to begin with. See Section VII starting on page 27.
On the Bill Meyer Show: To Discuss the Bend School Shooting
Dr. John Lott talked to Bill Meyer on Oregon’s KMED about the truth behind the Bend school shooting and the “good guy with a gun” issue in the mainstream media. (Monday, October 19, 2026, from 10:05 to 10:20 AM ET)
I’m really interested in the order of events here. I haven’t seen the research so I’m curious. The way it’s presented here makes it seem that women start out with one mindset, then when they get married they change their minds, when they have kids they move further in that direction, and when they get divorced they change their minds again. But is that right? Or could it be that women who choose to get married and have children are predisposed to be more conservative and women who are not predisposed to be more conservative either just don’t get married or leave their marriages because they weren’t compatible with marriage to begin with because of the same personality traits that cause them to be more left leaning independently of their marital status? Or could it be some combination thereof?